Rogue States

Your Nov. 7 editorial, "Take a step toward nuclear sanity," makes an excellent case when it calls for a missile shield coupled with the reduction of nuclear warheads by Russia and the United States. But even if the number of warheads isn't reduced, the missile-defense system still is a valid concept. Why? The answers are in your own editorial: "The real threat to America's survival ... comes from Russia, which still has ... 6,000 ... warheads." That may be true, but in Russia's political chaos and economic collapse, there's no guarantee that the Russian government will maintain control of those warheads.

You may have heard North Korea and Iran called "rogue nations," but did you know Florida is a "rogue state"? At least that's how South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Chad Connelly describes Florida. It's not because Florida is developing a nuclear arsenal, or anything like that. Instead, its rogue status is due to the decision by state political leaders to set the Florida presidential preference primary for Jan. 31, thereby moving it ahead of the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada primaries.

The State Department's decision to no longer use the term "rogue states" to describe the likes of Libya, North Korea or Iran, but to refer to them instead as "states of concern," was one of those policy moves that is easy to ridicule. In fact, let's do that for a moment. I travel to some of these places and I can't imagine calling home and having my wife ask me, as she often does, "Where are you?" and I answer, "Honey, I'm in a state of concern." That's really going to cause problems. Couldn't we do something more politically correct, like referring to the North Koreas and Iraqs as states that are "legally challenged" or "states in need of Ritalin"?

In the wake of the heinous murders in Tucson on Jan. 8, America's politicians and pundits have been quick to condemn the vitriol of our current political discourse. Pardon my cynicism, but if the killer had been a Muslim or an illegal immigrant, does anyone doubt that many of these same critics would have exploded with inflammatory rhetoric? The greatest threat to America does not come from "rogue" states, alien ideologies or immigrants, but from the mindless discontent, fueled by demagogic politicians and media blowhards, that permeate much of our society.

Russia and the United States remained deadlocked Tuesday over U.S. proposals to build an anti-missile shield. U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen called for discussion of a technological umbrella to protect against missiles but Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev responded that the countries ought to rely on an umbrella based on diplomacy. Sergeyev repeated Russia's contention that altering the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, which the proposed U.S. missile defense system would require, would result in a new arms race.

Solution for nuclear power plants in rogue states: Create a "public international easement" on the property and the freedom to get to the site. By public, I mean for international inspectors. If these countries "only" want the benefit of electricity, then they should not have a problem with continuous supervision. In addition, the inspection process should be paid for by the plant operations. The country would have to set up a trust in advance to make sure payments are made. Give the U.N. a shutdown switch if "activities" surrounding the facility become questionable.

In the wake of the heinous murders in Tucson on Jan. 8, America's politicians and pundits have been quick to condemn the vitriol of our current political discourse. Pardon my cynicism, but if the killer had been a Muslim or an illegal immigrant, does anyone doubt that many of these same critics would have exploded with inflammatory rhetoric? The greatest threat to America does not come from "rogue" states, alien ideologies or immigrants, but from the mindless discontent, fueled by demagogic politicians and media blowhards, that permeate much of our society.

Former President Jimmy Carter is going to Cuba on Sunday. On the eve of his trip, a U.S. State Department official has said, in effect, that Carter is visiting a Caribbean sponsor of bioterrorism. Where's the beef? Without hard evidence, these remarks seem aimed at appeasing anti-Castro hardliners rather than protecting U.S. national security. The U.S. State Department now says that Cuba may be producing a small amount of germs that can be used in biological warfare and that it is sharing this technology with rogue states.

I am 81 years old, World War II enlistee, 27 combat missions as a B-24 Liberator navigator over German-occupied France and Germany, shot down twice. Everyone I know in my age bracket and younger detests President Bush's saber rattling and name calling, "rogue states, Axis of Evil," indeed. Hasn't he heard the old saying, "Give a dog a bad name and he will try to live up to it"? If he thinks that the country is behind him in his intention of militarily attacking a sovereign country because of something it might do, he is sadly mistaken.

I see that the "anti-Bush bashers" are at it again. One thing that both the pro-Bushers and the anti-Bushers agree on: There has never been so much polarization on political opinion -- ever -- in this country as we have today. Why? I submit that it is the lack of diplomacy -- "tact" -- in our chief executive. You don't walk past a person and insult him by calling him a name -- you could get a fist in your mouth. Calling the "war on terror" a "crusade" is the same thing. I know what President Bush meant when he said that, but the entire Muslim world remembered when the Christians came into their area centuries ago to fight them for religious reasons.

Solution for nuclear power plants in rogue states: Create a "public international easement" on the property and the freedom to get to the site. By public, I mean for international inspectors. If these countries "only" want the benefit of electricity, then they should not have a problem with continuous supervision. In addition, the inspection process should be paid for by the plant operations. The country would have to set up a trust in advance to make sure payments are made. Give the U.N. a shutdown switch if "activities" surrounding the facility become questionable.

I see that the "anti-Bush bashers" are at it again. One thing that both the pro-Bushers and the anti-Bushers agree on: There has never been so much polarization on political opinion -- ever -- in this country as we have today. Why? I submit that it is the lack of diplomacy -- "tact" -- in our chief executive. You don't walk past a person and insult him by calling him a name -- you could get a fist in your mouth. Calling the "war on terror" a "crusade" is the same thing. I know what President Bush meant when he said that, but the entire Muslim world remembered when the Christians came into their area centuries ago to fight them for religious reasons.

As Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld moves to increase the global presence of U.S. military forces to fight the war on terrorism, the Navy has developed a new fleet readiness plan designed to double the number of aircraft carriers available for missions around the world. Instead of maintaining single carriers in the Pacific Ocean, the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea, the Navy could have six carriers ready by the end of the year to respond to terrorist emergencies or other military contingencies worldwide, Navy officials said.

"The best defense is a good offense." That favorite saying of heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey gets a half-million hits on Google, including George Washington in 1799: "Offensive operations, often times, is the surest, if not the only means of defence." That's the essence of our new policy of pre-emption as a last resort. If threatened by a regime harboring terrorists or likely to provide them with mass-murder weaponry, the United States will not wait to gain world sympathy as the victim, but will defend itself by striking first.

President Bush's decision to deploy a new U.S. land- and sea-based antimissile system is a bad idea whose time has come. Experts in every field of politics and science related to this pipe dream have been saying since President Ronald Reagan first announced his Strategic Defense Initiative in 1983 that a National Missile Defense system does not work, is unnecessary, destabilizing, staggeringly expensive, illegal and will not defend against the real threats...

By Howard Witt Washington Bureau and Information from the Washington Post was used to supplement this report, October 18, 2002

Bush administration officials said Thursday they would use diplomatic means to deal with the newly revealed nuclear threat posed by North Korea, even as the White House weighs military force to stem a similar danger in Iraq. Faced now with two rogue states actively pursuing nuclear weapons, the administration insisted North Korea and Iraq represent vastly different levels of threat, and therefore require different responses. One day after the White House revealed North Korea had admitted it was pursuing a nuclear weapons program in violation of an agreement with the United States not to do so, administration spokesmen maintained that the danger posed by the Stalinist Pyongyang regime might still be contained through diplomatic pressure.

Moving the United States and its allies closer to an extended troop presence in Bosnia-Herzegovina, NATO foreign ministers ordered alliance military commanders on Tuesday to swiftly develop a plan to continue the Balkan peacekeeping after its mandate expires on June 30. President Clinton later told a Washington news conference that he intended to announce his decision before he departs on Sunday for a Christmas visit to the region whether or not U.S....

Defense Secretary William Cohen told the NATO allies on Thursday that the United States believes it soon may be necessary to develop a missile defense system to counter threats from "rogue states" with ballistic weapons, but insisted it would be done with allied security interests in mind. Seeking to convince skeptical European governments, Cohen said the United States and its allies must start to consider how to cope with new challenges besides the nuclear arsenals of Russia and China.

I am 81 years old, World War II enlistee, 27 combat missions as a B-24 Liberator navigator over German-occupied France and Germany, shot down twice. Everyone I know in my age bracket and younger detests President Bush's saber rattling and name calling, "rogue states, Axis of Evil," indeed. Hasn't he heard the old saying, "Give a dog a bad name and he will try to live up to it"? If he thinks that the country is behind him in his intention of militarily attacking a sovereign country because of something it might do, he is sadly mistaken.

Former President Jimmy Carter is going to Cuba on Sunday. On the eve of his trip, a U.S. State Department official has said, in effect, that Carter is visiting a Caribbean sponsor of bioterrorism. Where's the beef? Without hard evidence, these remarks seem aimed at appeasing anti-Castro hardliners rather than protecting U.S. national security. The U.S. State Department now says that Cuba may be producing a small amount of germs that can be used in biological warfare and that it is sharing this technology with rogue states.